How to Use Temperature and Humidity Sensors Inside Smart Speakers
Your smart speakers have more built-in features than you’d imagine if you were just using them to queue playlists and get weather forecasts. Dig deeper into their features and you’ll find there’s a lot to explore, even if you have one of the cheapest models on the market.
For example, there’s a good chance your smart speaker has temperature and/or humidity sensors. You’ll find it in both the HomePod Mini and Apple’s second-generation HomePod, and you’ll also find a temperature sensor (but not a humidity sensor) in some Echo speakers sold by Amazon—see the full list below.
These sensors can add some extra functionality to your smart home setup and are not difficult to set up. However, Google Nest devices don’t have these sensors yet, so if you invest in Google hardware, you’ll have to buy separate sensors to communicate with your network for now.
How to use temperature and humidity sensors on Apple HomePod and HomePod Mini
If you have a HomePod Mini or a second-generation 2023 HomePod (not the original 2018 HomePod), then temperature and humidity sensors are built right into the speaker. These sensors will be available as long as your device has the latest software. To check this, open the Home app on your iPhone, tap the three dots (top right), then Home Settings and Software Update .
After this you can access the sensors. As you’d expect, the process is done through the Home app. If you don’t have an iPhone, you can use the Home app on your iPad or Mac instead. If you select the room the HomePod is in in the Home app interface, you should immediately see temperature and humidity readings.
You can also click the Climate link at the top of the Home tab to see an overview of temperature and humidity. Please note that sensor calibration on new HomePods may take some time, and you will see an average if more than one HomePod speaker is active in the same room.
Click on the temperature or humidity readings for more options. On the next screen, you can change the name of the sensor, change the room it is in, and check if it is working properly. You can also hide it from the house and room summaries you see in the Home app.
Click Add Automation to do more with this data. You can configure actions based on readings taken from sensors. For example, you can choose to have your smart thermostat raise the temperature if a certain room gets too cold, or send an audio alert to your Apple TV if the room’s humidity drops below a certain level. This automation can be set to only work at certain times or when you are away from home.
Recommended Products:
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Apple HomePod Mini $99.99
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Apple HomePod $299.99
How to Use Temperature Sensors on Amazon Echo Smart Speakers
If you use Amazon Echo speakers at home, you’ll find a temperature sensor inside the 2nd generation Echo Plus (released in 2018), 4th generation Echo (released in 2020), and 5th generation Echo Dot (released in 2022) . ). None of the Echo Show devices have a temperature sensor, and none of Amazon’s smart speakers have humidity sensors.
Everything is controlled through the Alexa app for Android or iOS . Assuming you’ve already gone through the process of adding your Echo smart speaker to the app, you can assign it to a room in your home by clicking the + (plus) button in the top right corner of the Home tab and then selecting Group . .
If you want to add a device to an already created room, select the room from the Devices tab, then select Edit and select a speaker to add it. Please note that your speaker will not be listed if it is already assigned to another group or room.
Adding an Echo speaker to a group is important because to get a temperature reading, you need to say “Alexa, tell me the temperature in…” followed by the name of the group or room. If you simply ask Alexa for the temperature, you will simply get the current temperature for your part of the world, so you need to be precise in your wording.
You can also select a speaker from the list in the Devices tab to see the current temperature reading. Click on a reading to access the Go to Programs link—this allows you to set up appropriate routines based on the speaker’s temperature readings, so you can turn on a connected fan or turn on a smart thermostat based on how hot or cold it is in a particular room. in your house there is.